“From that point forward Bär took operational command, and before the month was out every unit in Germany with jets began bringing them to us at Riem airfield, near Munich. I was sent to the hospital, but I discharged myself, walking with a cane and relocated to Tegernsee, where I still had telephone contact with Bär. There was a rumor that we were the only unit to have jet fuel! For such a long time I had been begging for planes.”{9} At the time Galland was fighting for his life, Capt. Robert W. Clark of the 50th Fighter Group shot down another Me 262, and the pilot bailed out.{10}
Galland landed his crippled jet near the autobahn just as a flight of P-51s flew overhead, strafing everything in sight. This would explain why he at first thought that a Mustang had shot him down. Jumping out of his jet, which had just become a target of strafing opportunity, he jumped into a bomb crater. This action probably saved his life.
In an article written by Mary Leydecker, a researcher located James Finnegan, and after comparing both the Galland and Finnegan reports and the after-action report from the 50th Fighter Squadron, 10th Fighter Group of the 9th Air Force, the two warriors were introduced in 1979 and became friends until Galland’s death on February 9, 1996.{11}
Finnegan described his encounter in an interview: “I was leading the top-flight cover of P-47s that was escorting the B-26s to their target. As I gazed down, I saw two objects come zipping through the formation, and two bombers blew up immediately. I watched the two objects go through the bomber formation, and thought ‘That can’t be a prop job… it’s got to be one of the 262 jets.’ I was at about thirteen thousand feet and estimated them to be at about nine to ten thousand. They were climbing, and I pulled a split-S toward the one that turned left, and almost ended up right on top of him—about seventy-five yards away!
“I gave a three-second burst and saw strikes on the right-hand engine and wing root. I was going so fast, I went right through everything, and guessed my speed at about five hundred fifty miles per hour. I recorded it as a probable. I was flying a D model Thunderbolt with a bubble canopy, a natural metal finish, and a black nose. The 262 had a green and brown mottled camouflage with some specks of yellow. That turned out to be my last flight in a P-47. My total kills for the war were three, an FW 190 and an Me 109, in addition to the Me 262. Galland always impressed me as being a true warrior. He loved combat and the involvement, but was not out to kill. That was just part of it.”{12} Finnegan passed away on April 26, 2008, and both were gallant men and heroes of their respective nations.
CHAPTER 23
The End of the War and JV-44
Every man knew the war was over, but we wanted to end it on our terms.
Oberstleutnant Heinz Bär took command of the unit after Galland was wounded on April 27, 1945, and two days later the remnants of JV-44 made a hurried move to Salzburg-Maxglan to avoid the approaching U.S. Seventh Army. However, the war was not yet over for Galland’s Circus even though their leader was out of the war.
On April 27, Galland was lying in a hospital bed while Heinz Bär led the remnants of JV-44 in sorties known as freie jagd, or “free hunting,” where a fighter would attack targets of opportunity. Bär claimed two P-47s, but Foreman and Harvey believe that he may have actually mistaken a P-47 for a Soviet fighter, perhaps an LA-7, which was also a blunt-nosed radial engine fighter, since Soviet fighters were in the area.
It is hard to believe that he would make that kind of mistake, especially when JV-44 also claimed five of six IL-2 Sturmoviks destroyed, once a flight of twenty IL-2s were encountered. Bär was an experienced Eastern Front fighter leader, with 220 kills under his belt, of which sixteen kills were confirmed in the Me 262, and he was also an expert on aircraft identification. According to Foreman and Harvey, JV-44 lost two Me 262s that day. However, the Luftwaffe records do not reflect these losses for JV-44; JG-7 did in fact engage Soviet aircraft, and they lost two jets, so these two losses were probably from that unit. Bär scored his 220th and last confirmed kill of the war and his sixteenth in the jet, a P-47 over Bad Aibling.{1}
As the war came to an end, Galland had given Bär the order to send a negotiation team to handle the surrender of JV-44 to American forces. Major Wilhelm Herget volunteered and flew off with the letter in hand, but his Fieseler Storch was shot down; he never made it. Herget survived the crash and the war. Ironically, over seventy jets were flown to JV-44’s airfield from every unit, including ground attack units, who had no more use for them. After years of begging, borrowing, and stealing jets, he now had more than he could ever use.
The Me 262s of JV-44 and the additional jets that were deposited were rolled out to the airfield, and having no response from the Americans, the order was given to put them all to the torch, as the remaining Me 262s were blown up by the JV-44 personnel placing grenades into the engine intakes. Some of the JV-44 Me 262s were flown out to Innsbruck, where they met personnel of JV-44 under the command of Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob, who was ordered to develop the Innsbruck airfield for operations. Other units either followed suit or just surrendered the jets, such as Kommando Welter’s group. Bob’s orders were rendered null and void due to the inadequate field length and lack of supplies.
Within a week the Seventh Army rolled within sight of their airfield and JV 44’s remaining two dozen Me 262s of JV-44 (with others delivered) were destroyed before the advancing enemy troops could take possession of them. JV-44 was the most unique fighter unit in the world, its members being some of the most famous, successful, and highly decorated pilots of any nation in World War II. The method by which the unit was created and staffed was almost as unique as its list of members, as were the final hours of the Third Reich, the Luftwaffe, and JV-44.
Heinz Bär gave Bob his final orders on May 4, 1945: “The Americans were close to Salzburg airfield, which meant that we soldiers had to disappear. Firstly, the aircraft were made useless, again by removal of their regulators. I was ordered to go with the lorries and a detachment of sixteen men, well equipped with machine pistols and ammunition, and store the regulators safely somewhere in the mountains and then be available for the defense of the so-called Festung Alpen together with a detachment that was already there…. I established my headquarters at a farm located at the highest point in the village. Again we waited for something to happen. But nothing did…”{2}
The pilots all ended their war in various ways. Oberleutnant Hans Grünberg flew “White 1” trying to get home near the old field at Kaltenkirchen, but had to land when he saw the British occupied the field, where he surrendered. Major Karl-Heinz Schnell and Oberfeldwebel Herbert Kaiser surrendered in Salzburg. Oberleutnant Franz Stigler took off riding a Kettenkraftrad, used to tow aircraft, and ended up in British hands. Later he emigrated to Canada. Leutnant Klaus Neumann jumped on a motorcycle and went into the Alps. Hauptmann Walter Krupinski ended up in the POW camp at Bad Aibling until relocated. Galland surrendered at Tegernsee, where the general managed to get his American captors to look for Lützow, without success.